Stephen Timms: Building a Fairer Digital Future for Rural Britain

Digital Britain’ is not just about one sector of our economy or a few hi-tech
industries – it is about everyone’s jobs, everyone’s education and
everyone’s community.

David and Celia Aldred from Market Overton in Leicestershire where villagers set up their own broadband
Photo: MARTIN POPE

By Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain

7:00AM BST 24 Oct 2009

Our aim is to make the UK one of most competitive, highly-skilled and technologically-advanced economies in the world. And it is government’s responsibility to ensure everyone is included in that vision and that the gains are shared fairly across society.

Broadband is no longer considered a luxury - it has become an essential service delivering social, commercial and economic benefits. Our competitive market has already taken the network out to 99 per cent of the country, but speeds are variable and service is weak or non-existent in some parts of the country.

The Telegraph has been highlighting the importance of this issue in its Campaign for Better Broadband for Rural Britain. I can reassure readers that it is also top of the Government’s agenda, which is why we're ensuring that homes and businesses right across the UK have access to quality broadband, through our Universal Service Commitment.

At 2Mbps this commitment goes further than almost anywhere else in Europe and will help make Britain a place where people learn faster and do business more effectively.

Currently about 2.75 million homes – the majority of them in remote communities - cannot support a 2Mbps service.

It would be socially and economically unjust for rural Britain to be dependent on slow and unreliable broadband while urban areas reap its benefits. So let me be clear – improving these networks is our priority and the £200m we have set aside to fund the Universal Commitment will first be spent in areas with little or no service.

The Government is setting up a small company to design a procurement model that will deliver an optimum network at maximum value for the public investment. In some areas where there are clusters of broadband ‘not-spots’ the best and most cost-effective solution might be to install fibre connections. This would allow those communities to leapfrog straight to a high-speed broadband service, well in excess of 2Mbps.

The Universal Commitment is vital if we are to ensure that everyone can participate in a Digital Britain. It will also guarantee that we do not immediately face another problem of digital exclusion as super-fast networks are deployed to some parts of the country.

But 2Mbps is not the limit of our ambition and we firmly regard Next Generation access as our ultimate goal.

Already we can expect competitive, market-led investment to bring super-fast broadband to about two-thirds of the country over the next few years.

We welcome Virgin Media’s upgrade of its network and BT's intentions to bring 10 million homes within reach of fibre services by 2012. These commitments, and work being done by many smaller networks, show that the UK is not being left behind.

But given the high costs involved, the market can't be expected to extend Next Generation coverage to every rural area without publicly funded support, which is why positive action from government is needed.

Digital Britain sets out a clear plan to deliver Next Generation access to nine out of ten UK homes within a decade. An extra 50p per month on fixed-line phone bills will raise a fund of around £150m-£175m per year to incentivise investment in the final third of the country that the market will not reach, ensuring that both urban and rural Britain have the digital infrastructure fit to compete on a global stage.

The Government is also working with community groups to support local initiatives and help bridge the digital divide. This work, alongside the Universal Service Commitment and Next Generation Fund, will help us build a fairer future where every community shares the rewards of a Digital Britain.